Reactions to Bénie Traoré joining NYCFC, USMNT's World Cup knockout test

Time to interrupt the World Cup summer with a healthy dose of New York City FC discussion. That's what you get at the start of this episode of The Soccer Journal Podcast, with a lot of time dedicated to talking about new New York City FC Designated Player Bénie Traoré.

Hosts Mark Radigan and John Baney plus producer Andrew Leigh discuss what they like about Traoré, how he'll fit alongside fellow DP Nico Fernández Mercau in attack, and why Traoré might be the one to play at center-forward until Alonso Martínez returns from his long-term knee injury.

From there, discussion turned to the swirling reports linking NYCFC with a push to sign USMNT star Christian Pulisic, reportedly offering $10 million annually to pry him from AC Milan. Lots to be said about Pulisic, ranging from speculation about if he'd want to come to MLS in the near-term to what he'd do for NYCFC off the field with Etihad Park's opening looming. Before switching gears back to the World Cup, the show also touches on a separate transfer rumor coming out of Brazil, specifically that NYCFC is reportedly interested in loaning in Vasco da Gama center-back Lucas Freitas.

Next, we pivot fully to the World Cup, generally displeased with Mauricio Pochettino's decision to so heavily rotate his USMNT lineup for what would become a 3-2 loss to Türkiye to close out Group D. No one can find the wisdom in benching Matt Freese, and the show wonders what the result means, if anything at all, heading into the must-win Round of 32 clash with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The group previewed Bosnia by looking back at their impressive results in qualifying, and their less-impressive results through three World Cup group games. No preview would be complete without also looking one step ahead of Bosnia and wondering how the USMNT would potentially match up against either Belgium or Senegal, who they'd face in the Round of 16, if things get that far.

Listen to the full episode and then find more of our coverage at nysoccerjournal.com, or on Twitter @nysoccerjournal and @NYSJPodcast, on Bluesky @nysoccerjournal.com, and on Instagram @newyorksoccerjournal 

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